Remote Working
An interview with a mother working remotely
This week I spoke with Dawn O’Toole. Dawn works 3 days per week, mainly working remotely, from home. Dawn is mummy to 2 girls— Eilidh is 6 and Amelie is 2. I spoke to Dawn about how she manages the work/family life juggle…

Did you change your job/career path after having children?
Yes, I went from full time to 3 days per week. In order to secure the role I dropped a grade and worked alongside another mum to form a job share partnership.
Why?
I chose to reduce my hours after having my first daughter because I wanted to spend time with her and the cost of childcare would barely have made working full time worth it!
How does your job now differ to the one you had before having children?
My job is completely different. I no longer have my own team and have no targets to work to. My job now holds less responsibility and is less stressful. Whilst I miss having a team from time to time I get far more job satisfaction in my current role.
What are the best things about your job?
I consider myself extremely lucky in my current role and can’t think of anything that would make it better in terms of family friendliness. In a normal week I’ll work one day from the office with my job share partner and work from home two days. Working from home works great for me because I’m self disciplined. The benefits for me are pretty boring but I can multitask — I can work and put a washing on! I’ve no travel or lunch costs and I’m only a mile away from my girls if I’m needed.
If you were seeking new employment now, what things would attract you to an employer?
At this stage in life where I still have a toddler the only thing that would attract me would be more money but I would still need to maintain the flexibility of working from home.
What’s your top tip for MumtiTasking?!
I’m mostly winging it! The one thing I always do though is have all the clothes ironed for the next day and the school/nappy bags packed!
Great that it’s working so well for you Dawn, thanks very much.
